Waitrose appoints Widdowson to deliver Midlands logistics

Waitrose has chosen The Widdowson Group to be its official partner in the Midlands, parklogistics.co.uk reports.

The supermarket chain, which is part of the John Lewis Group, has its own dedicated logistics fleet; but has been known to outsource operations for delivery and collection around the UK.

The decision of who to appoint rested with Kit Woodward, supply chain developer for Waitrose, who eventually chose Widdowson to handle its Midlands logistics operations.

Waitrose's newest contract sees it take on Widdowson to transport full and groupage loads to distribution centres in Aylesford, Bardon and Bracknell. The logistics firm will also handle deliveries to its two sites in Milton Keynes; Brinklow and Celestia.

This new contract could see Widdowson hiring drivers in order to manage the added workload.

As part of the deal, Widdowson will deliver larger deliveries directly to their destination sites. Smaller loads, meanwhile, will be transported to Widdowson's own distribution centres in Leicester, where it will be repackaged and consolidated before being sent out in a bid to keep road mileage down.

Speaking to logisticsmanager.com about the affiliation, the commercial director at Widdowson, John Hawksworth, enthused: "Working with Waitrose, one of the UK's most highly respected food retailers, is a significant achievement for the group."